Social entrepreneurship is more than a buzzword - it is becoming an industry in and of itself. And one of the best niches in this new industry is occupied by a group I know and respect, StartingBloc. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, StartingBloc runs an Institute for Social Innovation and a Career Accelerator, both of which build a network of young social entrepreneurs that drive change around the world.

If you're new to the idea of StartingBloc, check out Jennifer Vilaga's profile of Martin Smith and co. in Fast Company. A bit closer to home, Sara Standish (now a MBA candidate at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell) has also profiled StartingBloc, as has Staff Writer Nitin Rao.

I'm also a StartingBloc Fellow - having completed the program last spring. Between Sara, Nitin and me, we've been to New York, London and Boston, where the Institute for Social Innovation has been held. Applications for this year's Institute are now open - I highly recommend that folks apply.

Questions? Contact StartingBloc or feel free to write us directly.

CGAP recently launched a new blog on technology and microfinance, led by Communications Officer Jim Rosenberg. Jim has a preternaturally polite nature and speaks with a delicate inflection that almost belies some of the intense experiences of his journalistic background (covering the wreckage at the Pentagon on September 12, 2001 comes to mind). In a recent interview with NextBillion.net, he discusses his vision for this online space and tells us what a microfinance blog means for the underserved and the development community alike.

A somewhat provocative starter: 2.5 billion people in the world are without access to finance. How does blogging help them?

Let's be honest, those people who lack access to finance are probably not reading the blog. However, the microfinance community, the mobile phone sector, commercial banks that are trying to expand services to the poor, journalists who cover these issues, people curious about mobile phone banking or smart cards - they are reading the blog. Hopefully the work we're doing is useful to them, or we're pointing them towards interesting news or research that others are doing. Since we launched in September we've logged visits from 136 countries. We have a mandate from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other CGAP member donors to share what we are learning, and to raise awareness about how technology can increase access to finance for poor people.

It seems like many development institutions have blogs these days - what will separate CGAP's?

Ideally we'll be complimentary to the good things that other people are doing already. We have two key objectives for the blog: 1) increase awareness about how technology can expand reach and reduce cost for access to finance and 2) provide a way for CGAP research and learning to be shared in a rapid way.

(Click "Read More" to continue reading Derek's interview with Jim Rosenberg)